


Welcome to Starbucks.

by A_Fantasist



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Ronan Lynch is Bad at Feelings, Ronan Swears, Soulmate AU, adam talks in his sleep, ronan hates coffee, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 08:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9170530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Fantasist/pseuds/A_Fantasist
Summary: Most people would’ve gone searching. Most people would’ve visited every coffee shop in the nation. But Ronan thought that was stupid. The whole thing was stupid. Soulmates were stupid. His ink was stupid.Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order, Ma’am?What the fuck, right? Ronan didn’t even like coffee. And in what situation is Ronan going to be mistaken for a ma’am?Stupid.That’s why he avoided cafe’s, as a rule.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was not aware that Starbucks was not open 24/7 until _after_ I wrote this, and I would just like to say that that is an outrageous injustice and would like to start a petition for make caffeine available at all hours of the day. If you need me, I'll be protesting.
> 
> Anywho, hope you like this. I'm always a slut for Soulmate AU's, so I thought I'd try my hand at writing one. Enjoy!

Most people would’ve gone searching. Most people would’ve visited every coffee shop in the nation. But Ronan thought that was stupid. The whole thing was stupid. Soulmates were stupid. His ink was stupid. 

_Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order, Ma’am?_

What the fuck, right? Ronan didn’t even like coffee. And the soulmarks were always strictly the first words you hear them direct to you, not just the first thing you overhear them saying… so in what situation is Ronan going to be mistaken for a ma’am?

Stupid.

That’s why he avoided cafe’s, as a rule. 

___________

 

Most people were offended by Adam’s ink. Sure, it wasn’t exactly prefered to have the better part of your soulmark be profanities, but Adam sort of liked it. 

_Wake the fuck up, Asshole. Unless you want to miss your goddamn stop._

It was almost elegant. Almost poetry. 

And, it was exactly the sort of thing someone was likely to say to Adam.

With his three jobs, (the garage, the factory, and the coffee shop) and the long subway ride back to his apartment, he had a tendency to fall asleep at random times in random places. 

____________

He fell asleep a lot, Ronan noted. 

There was this pretty, blond guy who always came back on the same train he did, which was odd in itself, because Ronan didn’t go back to Monmouth until well after midnight, due to his job as a bouncer. The subway was usually pretty deserted by then… but Pretty Boy was always there. And he was usually asleep.

Today was no exception. 

There had been a large group of people, tourists probably, all wearing the same neon shirts and taking up most of room on subway, forcing Ronan and Pretty Boy to sit on the same bench, on opposite ends. Pretty Boy fell asleep within two minutes, and the Neon group got off a few stops later… and suddenly it was just the two of them.

It was too quiet.  
He could _hear_ Pretty Boy breathing.  
It was pissing him off. 

He shot a glare at the sleeping boy, and his gaze snagged on his long, elegant hands. Ronan wanted to punch something. 

He didn’t take his eyes off the floor for several more minutes, resolutely _not_ looking at the gorgeous man sitting three feet to his left.  

“Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order, Ma’am?” 

Ronan’s blood froze. He slowly turned his head to look at the source of voice. The boy’s head had slouched back against the wall, and his mouth was hanging open.

“I’m sorry, we only have soy.” Pretty Boy mumbled, still obviously asleep.

Ronan’s mind was running a million miles an hour, repeating every curse word he knew. This beautiful boy that he’d been ogling for months _said his words_ and _shit_ Ronan’s _soulmate_ always got off at the next stop _shitfuckgoddamnit_!

He stared, in wide-eyed horror, at Pretty Boy. Then he reached out and poked Pretty Boy in the shoulder. 

Nothing happened. 

Ronan scooted an inch closer and poked him again. “Hey.”

Still nothing. The subway started slowing down.

“Hey, wake up.” He hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder and shook him. “Wake the fuck up, Asshole. Unless you want to miss your goddamn stop.”

“Uh, wha..?” Pretty Boy’s head rolled forward, then snapped up as he suddenly regained consciousness. He looked at Ronan, then at his hand still on his shoulder, then at the opening doors. Slowly, the gears began moving. “Wait…”

“You’re gonna miss your stop.” Ronan said hurriedly, snatching back his hand like Pretty Boy’s jacket was burning.

“I- What did you say?”

“Jesus, Mary, are you fucking deaf, you’re gonna miss your stop!” Ronan urged. 

“Well, actually- No, before that.” Pretty Boy stood up and walked backwards toward the door, “You said… You said… You said my-”

The doors closed, and the subway kept moving, leaving Pretty Boy standing on the platform staring after it, and Ronan sitting in the middle of the bench, having a mental breakdown.

____________

 

The next day was hell for Adam. 

He knew, _logically_ , that he would probably see _him_ on the train again tonight. He knew, _logically_ , that one sided soulmates were very rare. He knew, _logically_ , that this specific, devastatingly beautiful boy had been eyeing him up since he first started taking that train.

However, things had never been easy for Adam Parrish. So, _logically_ , he was nervous.

He had an early shift at the factory, then classes from two to five, then another shift at Starbucks from six, till whenever Cialina showed up to take over. But then, _then_ , he would take the train home and… talk to him? Adam didn’t know. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say… God, did he say the right thing? Adam couldn’t even remember what his first words to the boy were. He had been half asleep and completely disoriented and he had said _something_ to this devastatingly beautiful boy, and the devastatingly beautiful boy had said something _back_ and it was _Adam’s words_ and _Holy Shit_. 

Cialina was late. She was late often, but she was especially late today. Adam kept busy; restocking stirring sticks and napkins and lids and insulation sleeves. He had already mopped the floors and wiped down the tables. He had cleaned out the machines and counted inventory… it was nearing two o’clock. He would miss his train. Adam groaned and hit his head on the counter.

The bell above the door rang, alerting him that someone was here. _Hopefully_ , it was Cialina.

It wasn’t.

“Hi.” Adam straightened up, nearly gaping at the boy in front of him.

“Hey.” The Devastatingly Beautiful Boy From The Train said, rubbing the back of his buzzed head.

“Uh… Can… Can I get you anything?” Adam stuttered.

“No. I-” The boy huffed and looked up from the spot on the floor he had been staring at. His eyes were piercing and icy, and Adam felt a shiver run up his spine. “Look,” the boy started over, “You… you said my words yesterday. You were… you were fucking mumbling in your sleep and you said…” He seemed nervous and unable to finished his sentence, so instead, he pulled on the leather bracelets on his wrist, working his hand out of them. He held out his wrist for Adam to see, and went back to staring at the floor, his jaw locked and his ears red.

Adam stared blankly for a second, then carefully, he hooked his thumb into the boy’s jacket sleeve and pulled his wrist closer to him. There, under crisscrossed tanlines and a few concerning scars, were the words “ _Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order, Ma’am?_ ”

Adam barked a laugh, too loud, surprising the Devastatingly Beautiful Boy From The Train into looking up at Adam again.

Without looking away, and without letting go of his wrist, Adam pushed up his sleeve and turned his hand, the one holding the boy’s, up so his ink was visible.

The boy’s eyes flicked over it once, then twice, and again and again, before turning his hand in Adam’s grip to reverently trace the words with a calloused fingertip. 

“My name’s Adam.” Adam said quietly.

The boy looked up again, finally. “Ronan.”

“Ronan.” Adam repeated.

“Sorry I swore so much.” Ronan whispered.

“Don’t be.” _I like it_. “Sorry I called you ma’am.”

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who aren't detail freaks like me, Cialina is the girl who works at Nino's with Blue. She's only in the one scene in TRB, right before Gansey's prostitute debacle.


End file.
